ProShare Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV)

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV - Free Report) by 44.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,503 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 21,824 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Fortive were worth $5,288,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTV. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in Fortive by 229.6% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Fortive

In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,002 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.05, for a total transaction of $237,308.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 42,373 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,349,585.65. This represents a 6.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James A. Lico sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total transaction of $12,670,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,585 shares in the company, valued at $31,029,554. This trade represents a 28.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 432,712 shares of company stock valued at $33,237,008. 1.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Fortive from $84.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Fortive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Fortive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Fortive from $90.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Fortive from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.92.

Fortive Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Fortive stock traded down $0.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $69.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,464,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,541,438. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.84. The company has a market capitalization of $23.69 billion, a PE ratio of 29.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.10. Fortive Co. has a 52 week low of $60.39 and a 52 week high of $83.32.

Fortive (NYSE:FTV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.85. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 13.15%. Fortive's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Fortive Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Fortive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.04%.

About Fortive

Fortive Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and services professional and engineered products, software, and services in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Intelligent Operating Solutions, Precision Technologies, and Advanced Healthcare Solutions. The Intelligent Operating Solutions segment provides advanced instrumentation, software, and services, including electrical test and measurement, facility and asset lifecycle software applications, and connected worker safety and compliance solutions for manufacturing, process industries, healthcare, utilities and power, communications and electronics, and other industries.